The exterior is frankly not too much to look at. But I feel it resembles a mini SUV with high ground clearence and tall boy features. From the inside, it has got a great leg room in the front, decent legroom at the back (better than most of the sedans).
Bucket seats gives you excellent comfort even doing long distance, doesn’t give you the feeling of backache. Not sure what ergonomics Maruti has used in its seats but they are very comfortable and don’t hurt your back at all even when you are doing a continuous stretch of 5-6 hrs.
The seat height is made convenient for people of all age and feels no hassle while entering or coming out of the car. The waterfall design dashboard is quite impressive and the sporty gear shift adds more style to it, gives a feeling of driving a high performance car. Headroom and shoulder room is adequate.
As far as engineering is concerned it is indeed a high performance car. The 1.3L DDIS engine is a boon to mankind. Maruti has refined this engine to give maximum power, agility and mileage. I have driven same engine (1.3L) cars from other manufacturers but they are nowhere close to the power output and torque that Maruti offers. The performance is much smoother, acceleration is far more quicker than its competitors.
Maruti’s research team have done a fabulous job in making this engine performance a top notch. FE equally compliments it, I have recorded a 14-15 kmpl in city runs and 18-20 kmpl on highways cruising at 140+.
The drive quality of this car is just superb, the accelerations is quick, you will hit the 100 mark within a few blinks and the car will be still hungry for more.
The turbo lag is a bit obvious within 2000 rpm, but once you hit the 2000 rpm mark then it just blazes ahead. The car makes sense for both city as well as highway driving as it is best mix of both power and compact size. Overtaking on highways is as good as cars with 1.6L petrol engines. Handling is good up to speeds of 140kmph, if you are an enthusiast upgrade the stock tyre to 185 R70, it will improve the handling even better at high speeds.
High speed cornering is something I would not suggest on this car (unless the tyres are changed) as the car cannot handle steep curves because of its tall boy design and car width. Overall it is a car meant for people who like to enjoy every bit of their drive.